Abstract

Learning Management System (LMS) has been established in a number of universities worldwide to help connect students and lecturers to provide supportive services for the e-learning process. The importance of this research is to study the user(learner) satisfaction on E-learning website performance. In this research, we will measure the impact of E-learning website performance on user(learner) satisfaction. And we will propose the user behavior clickstream data approach to Evaluate the e-learning website performance. while there is a growing demand for e-learning websites. still, there are many problems accrues related to website performance. such as the hugenumber of usersvisitedcertain Websites in a particular period of timemakesusers may suffer fromlow Website speed. Data collection has been based on the following methods JMeter the automated testing tool to test the performance of the PSU E-learning platform, a survey to study the user satisfaction (Learner) of the PSU LMS platform, and clickstream data which have been derived from PSU LMS platform. The anticipated results of this research are Increases the speed of the E-learning platform by Identifying the response time, the load time of the e-learning website. also, increase the correlation between clickstream data and performance of the E-Learning platform. and we assume that there is a positive relationship between user satisfaction and performance of the E-Learning platform.

1             Research Statement

In this study the focus is on user satisfaction “the student” in eLearning website .by studying the learning management system from Website performance point of view. through testing the website performance to monitor and detect any delay in website. and use click stream data as an approach to measure the user satisfaction. And conducting a questioner from same users to assess this approach.

2             Introduction

Virtual Learning Environments have been the center of attention in the last few decades and help educators tremendously with providing students with educational resources. There are two major e-learning types: asynchronous and synchronous learning, depending on the student interaction with instructor, and learners or online classmates to be online at the same time, where live interactions take place between them. However, the focus of our research will be on the case where students are logging into and using the system independently of other students and staff members. This fits firmly into the general definition of the asynchronous e-learning environment. which defined as a Learning Management System (LMS) that helpsthe instructor deliver material to the students, administer tests and other assignments, track student progress, and managerecord-keeping without the confines of the traditional classroom[1],[2].

Reference

[1]Abdellatief, “A Technique for Quality Evaluation of E-Learning from Developers Perspective,” Am. J. Econ. Bus. Adm., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 157–164, 2011, doi: 10.3844/ajebasp.2011.157.164.

[2]      M. Alla, “The Impact of System Quality in E-learning System,” J. Comput. Sci. Inf. Technol., vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 14–23, 2013.

At the beginning of each semester the university LMS platform being the most visited websites in daily activity, which make the website performance critical. Therefore, there is absolutely needed appropriate testing performances to measure the level of a certain application. This measurement is used to determine responses, throughput, capability, and system scalability upon workload given. In order to measure website performance, we used an automated testing tool called Apache JMeter[3].

Clickstream data is rich with behavioral information such as visit duration, number of page views, item features viewed, and so on. Some studies use clickstream data to evaluate student learning behavior. The study of clickstream data in the online classroom focuses on the different features extracted from clickstream data containing details about student learning actions. student browses a web site clickstream data generated as student browse the website.

Refrences:[4]   R. D. Li, “Web Clickstream Data Analysis Using a Dimensional Data Warehouse,” 2000, [Online]. Available: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3d31/3405dd050757c1546e4ee5d85968eac486f0.pdf.

Importance of this theses is to study the user satisfaction on website performance .as it is regret as an important determinant of an operation’s online presence. in this research we will measure the impact of website performance on user(learner) satisfaction. And to propose the user behavior clickstream data approach for Evaluate the website performance[4].

Although there is a growing demand for quality and performance of web applications. still, there are many problems ensue among the users related to website performance. For example loading time or linking errors. Indirect  tracked after a website redesign. If there is less indirect traffic, after the redesign, it is an indication that there are some links or bookmarks from other pages potentially broken5].also,users may suffer from the low Website connective speed, even cannot access the Websitebecause of the existence of a huge number of usersvisit certain Websites in a particular period of time. For example, some immediate information-based Websites[6].

Refrense:E. H. C. Wu, M. K. P. Ng, and J. Z. X. Huang, “On improving Website connectivity by using Web-log data streams,” Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. (including Subser. Lect. Notes Artif. Intell. Lect. Notes Bioinformatics), vol. 2973, pp. 352–364, 2004, doi: 10.1007/978-3-540-24571-1_32.

3             Motivations

The main motivation of this research is related to the importance of E-Learning that has been Increased nowadays especially after the Covid-19 pandemic[7]. In our research, we want to make sure that the e-learning platform is performing well to meet user Satisfaction and contribute to the learning process hence that that E-learning reduces the cost associated with traditional learning.[8]  on another hand, many academic studies on website quality which typically concerned with the (performance of a website) are based on customer interviews instead of clickstream data [9]. Also, most of Researchers use clickstream data to on E-commerce, or to study user learning behavior and there are few papers discussed the use of clickstream data in other practices Like studying website performance.

4               Problem statement

Despite E-learning is becoming the main channel to contact students with lecturers. the e-learning still facing some performance obstacles that affect the learning process Some web applications are failing to satisfy the needs of users because of their poor Website performance. The users are getting unsatisfied and leave websites with a negative impression which leads to a loss in the number of users[10].and the other obstacle is, the performance issues which compromise the reliably of website (loading time or linking errors), after a website redesign, indirecttraffic volume needs to be watched. If there is less indirect traffic, then some links from other sites and/or bookmarks were potentially broken after the redesign[5].

Refrence:G. Zheng and S. Peltsverger, “Web Analytics Overview,” Encycl. Inf. Sci. Technol. Third Ed., no. January, pp. 7674–7683, 2014, doi: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5888-2.ch756.

Also, the huge number of users visited certain Websites in a particular period of time.  makesusers may suffer from the low Website connective speed and even cannot access the WebsiteFor example, some immediate information-based Websites[6]. sometimes the LMS administrator add extra functionality to LMS platform by Installing plugins to add extra functionality which lead to slow Down Page Load Time[11][6].Beside to that Before the Pandemic The E-Learning support requests from a certain number of people. But after the pandemic the university turn completely to online learning include (quizzes-and final exam) which Couse increase the number of users and lead to slower website performance[12].

[11]    A. Krouska, C. Troussas, and M. Virvou, “Comparing LMS and CMS platforms supporting social e-learning in higher education,” 2017 8th Int. Conf. Information, Intell. Syst. Appl. IISA 2017, vol. 2018-Janua, no. April 2018, pp. 1–6, 2018, doi: 10.1109/IISA.2017.8316408.

[12]    J. Jesionkowska, F. Wild, M. Fominykh, and J. Molka-danielsen, “Pandemic-Induced Constraints on Rapid Transformation to Digital Education Pandemic-Induced Constraints on Rapid Transformation to Digital Education Between the first reports of a pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan , China,” 15th Eur. Conf. Technol. Learn. (EC-TEL), CEUR Work. Proceedings, 2020, no. September, 2020, [Online]. Available: http://ceur-ws.org/.

5             Research Objectives

1. To test the Performance of E-learning website (PSU LMS platform) by using Performance testing method.
2. To measure the impact of website performance on user(learner) satisfaction.
3. to propose the user behavior clickstream data approach to Evaluate the website performance.

6             Research Question(s)

1. How performance testing will help in analyzing performance e-learning website?
2. How clickstream data can be used to evaluate learning web site performance?
3. Does student behavior clickstream data can be considered as an effective method (Approach)for evaluate the website performance?
4. Does E-Learning website Performance influence E-Learning student satisfaction.

6.1            E-learning In Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is trying to provide new educational opportunities for their increasing population and one consideration is E-Learning. Based on this, Sait, Ali & Al-Tawil (2003) performed a research on the perceptions of E-learning in Saudi Arabia. The team conducted a web-based survey to solicit the perception of Saudi Arabians on e-learning. Based on the survey, it was found out that majority of the respondents are not keen on taking courses on the internet. Respondents who wanted to take courses on the internet would do so because they like computers. The reason why these respondents did not want to take courses on the internet is that online courses are not yet credited in the country and that these courses are not considered as equivalents to those that were taken regularly in physical schools [16].

17]            S. M. S. & K. M. A.-T. Syed Hussain Ali, “Perceptions about e-Learning in Saudi Arabia,” no. December, pp. 393–399, 2003.

Before Covid-19 Khairan D. Rajab (2017) did research into online education for the purpose of support for online education in Saudi Arabia.  The research showed no statistical difference between face-to-face and online instruction with both “yielding similar results” (Rajab, 2017, p. 6791).  Enrollment in online classes is low in Saudi Arabia and Rajab found that fear played a role, because students did not think they would have “support, interactivity, connectivity” and the online courses would be more difficult, online learning can prevent disruption of education for students of all ages. The results of Rajab’s study is that it showed that even in difficult circumstances, such as “hard to reach geographic areas, war-zones, areas suffering from pandemics, natural disasters, civil wars or other types of emergencies” education can continue uninterrupted (Rajab, 2017, p. 6793).   If the resources are made available and teachers adequately trained, with few exceptions’ students should be able to receive an education and be prepared to rebuild when necessary.

10. D. Rajab, “The Effectiveness and Potential of E-Learning in War Zones: An Empirical Comparison of Face-To-Face and Online Education in Saudi Arabia,” IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp. 6783–6794, 2018, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2800164.

Since Covid-19 forced governments to close schools much of the online learning has been synchronous.  With synchronous teaching classes can meet over Zoom and the students and teachers are able to interact with each other in real-time.  In a study by Khalil et al.(2020), groups of medical student volunteers participated in one of eight synchronous groups that provided information about four areas of the education experience, “(1) educational impact (2), time management (3), challenges encountered (4), and preferences for future” (Khalil, et al., 2020, p. 3).  They found that with online learning they “found more time to spend with their families and to improve their sleep pattern” (Khalil, et al., 2020, p. 7).  Most of the students had positive feelings about their online synchronous learning experience but they also felt that they could not get essential experience online: “Nothing can replace seeing a patient because clinical experience and human interaction are extremely important in the practice of medicine” (Khalil, et al., 2020, p. 7).  A combination of asynchronous and synchronous learning will provide the benefits of both types of online learning, but it cannot replace all educational needs[7].

10. Khalil et al., “The sudden transition to synchronized online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study exploring medical students’ perspectives,” BMC Med. Educ., vol. 20, no. 1, 2020, doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02208-z.

6.2            E-learning &System quality

The quality of the content in an information system is very important and to further explore this aspect, Alla (2014) did a study on how system quality (SQ) impacts the E-learning system. The author focused on the principal dimensions in gauging system quality which are Usability, Accessibility, Reliability, and Stability. He evaluated how these dimensions would affect the efficiency of the e-learning system. Results of the study showed that Usability is the dimension that has the greatest effect on the e-learning system quality of The study concluded that an efficient e-learning system depends on how high the level of system quality is, and this will be the main factor that will encourage learners to shift to or utilize e-learning[5].

2013. Alla, “The Impact of System Quality in E-learning System,” J. Comput. Sci. Inf. Technol., vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 14–23, 2013.

In Vietnam, research showed that the e-learning system quality plays the most important role, followed by e-learning instructor and course materials quality, and e-learning administrative and support service quality” in keeping the students satisfied with their e-learning experience, and the authors of the study recommend that to ensure student satisfaction universitiesThe software and hardware of the elearning system must be modern and compatible, so that the elearning system runs smoothly and efficiently.  Online learning is more than technology and software and interaction of the student.  Some online courses are strictly information based on the student reading and working through assignments, while some have recorded lectures, written lectures, or a combination[17].

[19]    L. Pham, Y. B. Limbu, T. K. Bui, H. T. Nguyen, and H. T. Pham, “Does e-learning service quality influence e-learning student satisfaction and loyalty? Evidence from Vietnam,” Int. J. Educ. Technol. High. Educ., vol. 16, no. 1, 2019, doi: 10.1186/s41239-019-0136-3.

In this research, we are dealing with asynchronous learning platform Prince sultan university (PSU) e-learning platform that enables users (students) to access material ,read ,watch course videos in  any time independently from other user (student) and Instructor.

6.3            Testing Website Performance

A website testing evaluation on web applications was conducted by Putri, Ramdani, and Hadi (2017). In this specific study, they focused on websites that process university student admissions since websites such as these would receive a lot of daily visitors would therefore require excellent performance. They evaluated the reliability of the web applications used in two university websites, namely, Politeknik Negeri Malang and UniversitasBrawijaya. They used testing performances that would measure capability, responses, system scalability, and throughput. To carry out the research, the authors utilized a JMeter tool measure how the websites performed. They first determined test scenarios before making a thread group wherein they configured thread group properties such as loop count, ramp-up period, and number of threads. They then went on to do performance testing, including endurance, stress ,spikeesting. They also did automatic tools testing. They did these tests on admission websites since they are among the most visited websites.  [4].

10. A. Putri, H. N. Hadi, and F. Ramdani, “Performance testing analysis on web application: Study case student admission web system,” 2018, doi: 10.1109/SIET.2017.8304099.